Uncharted 2: Among Thieves — A Mystical, Globe-Trotting Adventure
Though Naughty Dog’s second outing with Nathan Drake proves to be much better than their first attempt, there are many things about it that haven’t aged well.
It’s funny how much a game development company can change within the span of a decade. This goes for most devs, but there are a few examples that are particularly noteworthy. In my last article, I detailed the history of platformers and how companies like Rareware changed the game for that genre. That company made a dramatic shift in the early 2000s after Microsoft acquired them. No longer were they producing quality games like Perfect Dark and Conker’s Bad Fur Day, but they were instead making games like Grabbed By the Ghoulies, Kameo: Elements of Power, and Perfect Dark: Zero. These games weren’t terrible per se, but they just weren’t on the level of Rare’s efforts in the nineties. Other devs have gone through a similar phase where they aren’t producing titles like they were before. Maybe the quality of earlier games isn’t there, the games aren’t as successful, or there’s just a tonal shift in the games they produce. Nintendo as a whole were kind of hitting a creative slump during their WII U era, but they picked right back up when the Switch was released. I would argue that Game Freak hasn’t developed a decent Pokémon game in quite some time. When it comes to the tonal shift that I was talking about, Naughty Dog is a big example.
We talked about Naughty Dog in my last article. After producing Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, a lighthearted platformer set in a tropical fantasy world, the company went on to make the sequel a lot darker and more mature. No longer were Jak and Daxter exploring their bright and colorful island home; now they were stealing cars, shooting up guards, and exploring the dark and rustic Haven City in Jak II. After that game’s success, every game that Naughty Dog produced afterward had the mature energy of Jak II. This was especially true for the first game that they produced for the PlayStation 3: Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. This game, unlike all of Naughty Dog’s previous efforts, was set on a mostly realistic, modern-day Earth, and had the player take on the role of Nathan Drake, a smartass fortune hunter who, along with reporter Elena Fisher and mentor Victor “Sully” Sullivan, is looking for the mythical El Dorado based off of his ancestor’s notes.
Unlike all of Naughty Dog’s previous outings, Uncharted was not a platformer. It had platforming elements that involved climbing walls and other surfaces to reach new areas, but the game itself was not a platformer. Instead, it was a third-person cover shooter with puzzle elements. It had a tone that was similar to Indiana Jones, which instantly hooked me when I played the game in high school. The original Indiana Jones trilogy of movies are some of my absolute favorite movies, and it made me really love the Uncharted series. The series is known for its voice acting, with Nolan North, Richard McGonagle, and Emily Rose voicing Nate, Sully, and Elena respectively. The dialogue in these games is always incredible.
After the first game’s success, three other games were released in 2009, 2011, and 2016. The Uncharted games became Naughty Dog’s biggest seller and are among the most notable in the entire lineup of PlayStation exclusives. Over the years, I’ve played every game in the franchise except for the 2009 sequel to the original game. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is considered to be the best in the series by fans, and for some reason, I never got around to playing it until now. I figured that I’d share my thoughts on this installment, and use it to gauge how much the PlayStation 3 Uncharted games have aged in comparison to Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which is my favorite game in the series.
The first thing I’ll say is that this game has an opening that kicks SO much ass. Nate is sitting in a dilapidated train hanging off of a Himalayan cliff with a bullet wound in his abdomen. That alone lets the audience know that this game is ramping up the stakes in comparison to the first game in the series. The story of this game is much more mystical, dark, and interesting than that of the first game. Drake’s Fortune was a mostly bland trek through South American jungles in order to reach a mythical city that had been covered so much in modern media that it had gotten stale. The voice acting, level design, and dialogue were what made that shine at the time. Among Thieves, on the other hand, is a full-on globe-trotting adventure from start to finish. Throughout the game’s story, Nate travels to Istanbul, the jungles of Borneo, and Nepal. That may not seem like a lot of locations, but seeing as how Nate and Sully spent the entire first game in a South American jungle, it’s quite an improvement. In Among Thieves, Nate is searching for the mythical city of Shambhala, a mainstay of Tibetan tradition, and the Cintimani Stone that’s located within the hidden realm. He’s briefly joined by Sully and is accompanied by Elena in the latter half of the story. This time around, his newfound girlfriend Chloe Frazier and colleague Harry Flynn join him, but Flynn quickly betrays Nate so he can join the intimidating Zoran Lazarević in finding the Stone. Lazarević is a militaristic idealist who believes that he can use the Cintimani Stone to make himself and his followers immortal. He’s kind of a nutball and a scary one at that. The dude is massive and is made of pure muscle.
The story is already way more interesting than the first game’s because it focuses more on the treasure and why it’s sacred. The Cintimani Stone is an actual aspect of the Hindu religion and Tibetan mythology and it’s so cool that we get to see that side of things explored a bit more in this game. The more mystical feel of Among Thieves makes it feel like Temple of Doom, which is the natural way to go I feel, mostly because that movie kicks ass. The historical and mythological facets of these games are why they hooked me as a teenager, much like the Assassin’s Creed games hooked me. History has always been something I’ve been fascinated by, and the way that the Uncharted games frame it is always done incredibly well.
I should state also that I absolutely love the characters of the Uncharted series, and this game is no exception. Nate is a lovable wiseass, Sully is a hilarious old man, and Elena is perhaps one of the most badass female characters in video game history. She’s always really confident and proves that she can be smarter and more resourceful than both Nate and Sully combined. She will gladly take a stab at Nate’s reputation with the ladies when she can. When she introduced herself to Chloe as ‘last year’s model’ made me lose my shit with laughter. She is not afraid to show Nate how much of a jackass he can really be sometimes. I often found her to be funnier than Nate and even Sully for that matter. When she and Nate eventually get back together at the end of the game, I can’t help but feel happy for them. She plays off of his buffoonery really well and he plays off of her excellently, too. Chloe and Nate never really felt like it would last. She’s a great female character, but not as great as Elena.
As I’ve mentioned, the game’s voice acting, script, and dialogue are all on point, but what about the gameplay? Well, I think it’s still disappointing. It’s really not different in any way from the first game. Nothing has been improved on much. Firefights often feel intense, but they’re mostly annoying because of the sloppy targeting. The puzzles that Nate has to solve are terribly easy, and I often found myself not having to think much when completing them. The only aspects of the gameplay that I enjoy are the platforming sections, which always have an incredible scale to them. The environments in the game are all beautiful and are designed better than they were in the first game, which mostly featured jungles. Because of the multiple locations Nate visits in this game, the level design is improved tenfold. This doesn’t save the game’s dated nature, however, because the terrible targeting and lazy puzzle design make this game really easy to beat. I eventually want to replay Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End to see how Naughty Dog improved their already-flawed game design.
As I’ve said, the environments, traversal, and set pieces are what save this game for me. Some of the locations here are just beautiful to look at. From the breathtaking temples in Nepal to the dark museum in Turkey, this game is ful of incredibly-rendered locations. Shambhala particularly is well-designed. This game also features more platforming than in the first installment of the series, which has always been my favorite part of the Uncharted games. The climbing mechanics often feel similar to the older Assassin’s Creed games, and that’s to be expected. Until recently with games like Assassin’s Creed Origins and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild where climbing has been updated to be more seamless and lifelike, climbing in games was mostly done through specifically-placed paths, beams, wall structures, and the like. It often felt quite linear, but we liked it because it was still fun. Climbing buildings and rock formations had never really been done before. I’m glad that platforming has been used less sparingly in Among Thieves, because it greatly reduces my distaste for the gameplay.
The last thing I wanna talk about in regard to Among Thieves is the stealth gameplay. It is absolutely horrible. They should have honestly removed stealth entirely from these first three games, because it is some of the worst stealth gameplay I’ve ever experienced. As a Metal Gear veteran, I can easily say that when you don’t have a sneak button but still include stealth sections, you’re not doing it right. You need to be able to control a stealth situation and not have it happen automatically. I’m glad that Naughty Dog learned this with their next series, The Last of Us, because stealth is the thing that I like least about the Uncharted games. Also, I should mention that the way Nate stealthily takes down enemies is wildly inconsistent. One moment, he’ll have to choke them for a good five sections to eliminate them, but at the same time, he’ll barely slap them on the back of the head and they’ll instantly go down. It’s ridiculous. Nate’s stealth capabilities just don’t feel consistent at all. This is why I enjoy playing as other Naughty Dog protagonists, like Ellie or Abby from The Last of Us Part II. They feel more suited for stealthy encounters.
Despite the flaws in the gameplay, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a good game. It has a dark tone that I love, characters that feel real, and a scale that improves the experience greatly. What’s awesome is that this time around, the story actually feels fresh and has huge stakes. Lazarević and Flynn are both compelling villains that make the search for the Cintimani Stone feel more desperate. The clock is always ticking for Drake and Co. If this game proves anything, it’s that the people at Naughty Dog can almost always tell a really compelling story. I’m glad that I got to experience this game for the first time, and it’s an interesting departure from my last article’s topic. Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy may have the better gameplay, but Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has the better story. I eventually would like to write about one of the games in The Last of Us series or even Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, mostly because I have a lot to say about them. Naughty Dog has always been one of the most interesting game developers out there, and I’ll always be interested to see what direction they take their games in. The near future looks bright for them, and I hope they continue to make quality products.
